‘Focus Stacking’, A Technique To Sharpen Your Pictures – A Complete Guide To Use It Like A Pro

Photography has taken a lot of twists and turns and has reached an edge that is absolutely commendable. Photography is an art that can bring out the beauty even to the most usual thing. The digital and high definition cameras, though have a major share but we cannot deny the fact that it is the creativity of the photographer and its way of looking to the world, is what gives us the amazing photographs.

When one desires for a perfect picture in which all the things should be sharp and focused, that’s the point where ‘Focus Stacking’ comes into play. Many a time, we encounter some photos, where the entire things are clearly projected. You might have tried to capture one such but maybe failed.

The reason behind this is, it’s not only the camera which is responsible to capture such sharp images but the concept applied behind creating those fascinating and captivating images. Let’s have a deep look at what Focus Stacking is?

What is Focus Stacking?

Focus stacking is a mechanism or art by which one can create an astonishing focused photo. To do so, numerous shots from the different points are taken off the focused object. Sometimes the capturing point is same but the auto-focus is changed. The collected images are then merged into one with the help of certain software like Photoshop etc. Hence, the image you get after editing in the software is absolutely a perfect image with all things in focus and without flaws.

When To Use Focus Stacking?

Generally, Focus Stacking is in use by two types of photographers. One, who is engaged in advertising photography and second by the photographers who do product photography. These days, even for wedding albums, people go for focus stacking.

For example, if you have visited a beautiful scenic place and what to capture each element wisely, you can go for Focus stacking to relish the beauty of nature. In-all, Focus Stacking is used on all those instances where a photographer has to focus on multiple pictures in a single frame.

How Focus Stacking is Done?

For instance, when one has opted for a location or subject that it desires to capture, like a live scenery image; where the sunlight, sea, bigger stones at the seashore and plants all around demands to be highlighted. Therefore, what the aspirant will do now is as follows.

First of all, the photographer needs to find a suitable point from where the entire chosen scenery could be captured. It’s obvious that all the things would not get highlighted in a single shot. Therefore, initially set a tripod on the chosen point. Tripod is good for capturing the perfect shot as the focus does not change while capturing.

Thus, with the aid of the tripod, capture multiple images from a single point or by just altering the auto-focus and each photo will be possessing different focus areas. With more number of pictures, the sharpness of the final photo can be expected to be better.

Now open the captured images in Photoshop. Each image captured is called a layer. Hence, now we’ll proceed to layer i.e. stacking all photos. Upon merging the photos, the final photo you’ll get is a perfect photo with entire things clear and focused.

Bottom Line

From the article, you must have got to know what Focus Stacking is and how one can avail a perfect shot with each part highly focused. If you are a beginner and an aspirant of learning focus stacking, this article could render you with great help. Hence, try out this amazing photography feature and get the best out of your subject.